Franschhoek and the Wine Tram

I’ve just got back from an incredible trip in Cape Town. I’ve got loads of photos and even a travel video to share with you (my first foray into YouTube eek). For now though, I’m starting with one of the highlights from our 11 day trip, which was the incredibly beautiful town of Franshhoek in the winelands.

Franshhoek is about an hour drive from central Cape Town. The region is covered in sprawling lush vineyards and dotted with charming cape dutch architecture. The name ‘Franshhoek’ is dutch for ‘French Corner’.

We found an absolute gem of a place to stay at La Cotte Farm Cottages. One of the oldest wine estates in South Africa, built around 1694 by Dutch settlers. We couldn’t stop taking pictures of our gorgeous little two bed cottage.

Our mornings were spent having breakfast on our little terrace, watching the sun rise from behind the mountains that surround Franschhoek.

On the day we arrived, we went to another nearby wine estate called Leeu Estates (one of the largest and grandest) to use the spa. We had couples massages, lunch and wine by the pool and spent the day grinning from ear to ear feeling utterly spoilt and relaxed. How could we not with these views?

The next day we did the much advised Franshhoek Wine Tram. It’s a hop on, hop off tram that takes you through 6-9 wine estates in the Franschhoek valley. You can go to them all or choose the ones on your route that you would like to go to, and do wine tastings in each of them. We had a brilliant day, and I’d highly recommend doing this if you’re visiting.

There are five or six different routes you can choose from, we did the blue route and pre-ordered a picnic hamper for the winery we reached by lunchtime. We took it down to the river and enjoyed a bottle of delicious wine with it too. Such a gorgeous way to get a feel for the area, despite the fact we were tipsy by 11am.

Our evenings in Franshhoek were spent cooking up a delicious Braai at our little home from home. We made corn on the cob drenched in garlic butter (so good), charred brocolli, marinated chicken kebabs, and Snook, a popular South African fish.

We reluctantly left Franschhoek, all of us wishing we had another couple of days to explore this beautiful little toy town. It’s high up on my list to go back, and I’d highly recommend Franschhoek and La Cotte Farm Cottages for families, couples and groups of friends too.